Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c12.1897

v1.c12.1897

Kāsāva Vagga.—The eighth section of the Duka Nipāta of the Jātaka Commentary.¹ 1. Kāsī (Kāsika).—One of the sixteen Mahājanapadas,¹ its capital being Bārāṇasī (q.v.). At the time of the Buddha, it had been absorbed into the kingdom of Kosala, and Pasenadi was king of both countries.² The Mahāvagga,³ however, mentions a Kāsika-rājā (king of Kāsī ?) who sent a robe to Jīvaka. Buddhaghosa⁴ says that this was a brother of Pasenadi and son of the same father. He was probably a sub-king of Pasenadi. Pasenadi's father, Mahākosala, on giving his daughter in marriage to Bimbisāra, allotted her a village of Kāsī (Kāsigāma, q.v.) as bath money.⁵ Even at this time, however, the memory of Kāsī as an independent kingdom seems to have been still fresh in men's minds. It is very frequently mentioned as such in the Jātakas and elsewhere. Kāsī was once ruled by the Bhāratas, one of whom, Dhataraṭṭha, was its king in the time of Reṇu.⁶ There seem to have been frequent wars between the countries of Kāsī and Kosala, victory belonging now to one, now to the other. In one such war, Dīghiti (q.v.), the Kosala king, was defeated by the king of Kāsī, but Dīghiti's son Dīghāvu won back the kingdom.⁷ In another war the Kāsī king, Mahāsilava, was taken captive by the ruler of Kosala, but his kingdom was later restored to him.⁸